Pariksha SaathiSoil-carbon payments initiated for Punjab and Haryana farmers
Smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana have received what PIB described as India's first payments for carbon stored in farm soil. ICAR Director General and DARE (Department of Agricultural Research and Education) Secretary Dr M. L. Jat started the Direct Benefit Transfers to 2,550 farmers at a programme held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana; more than ₹2.9 crore is being disbursed in all, and individual farmers received roughly ₹3,000 to ₹15,000, in proportion to the credits generated on their land. The money comes from 'Aadi', a farmer carbon programme that Grow Indigo began in 2019 with ICAR's technical guidance. Between 2019 and 2022, participants adopted Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), cut back on tillage and managed crop residue better; the resulting drop in greenhouse-gas emissions and gain in soil carbon were quantified and checked by an independent verifier under Verra's VM0042 methodology before any credits were issued. This first issuance covered about 30,000 acres and over 50,000 credits, and Grow Indigo advanced the money from its own resources ahead of the credit sale. For the enrolled fields, the programme estimates that 45 billion litres of water were saved and that over two lakh tonnes of crop residue were not set on fire, avoiding about 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions.
Drafted with AI assistance from a live web search; a second AI pass confirmed the official link above and checked a sample of the facts against it. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
Verra runs the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, a voluntary greenhouse-gas crediting programme. Its VM0042 methodology, 'Improved Agricultural Land Management', quantifies both emission reductions and soil organic carbon removals from practices such as reduced tillage and better fertiliser, residue and water management. India's government-run carbon market is separate: the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), notified by the Ministry of Power on 28 June 2023 under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, as amended in 2022.
Reference: Verra's VM0042 methodology page
Check yourself: were the Aadi credits issued under India's government Carbon Credit Trading Scheme?
No. The release says the credits were issued under Verra's VM0042 methodology, which belongs to the voluntary VCS Program. The CCTS is a separate, government scheme under the Energy Conservation Act.
Revision task: separate the roles in this story: who changed farming practices (the farmers), who measured and verified the outcome (independent verification under VM0042), and who paid upfront before the credits were sold (Grow Indigo).
Test yourself
India's first payments for carbon stored in farm soil were made to smallholder farmers of which two states?
Show the answer
Answer: Punjab and Haryana
Direct Benefit Transfers of over ₹2.9 crore reached 2,550 farmers in Punjab and Haryana under 'Aadi', a farmer carbon programme Grow Indigo began in 2019 with ICAR's technical guidance; credits were verified under Verra's VM0042 methodology.
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